2025 Mayo Lecture

The 2025 Annual JCU Mayo Lecture presented was delivered by The Honourable Susan Brown on Friday 31 October 2025 at the Bebegu Yumba Campus in Douglas, Townsville.

This year's Mayo Lecture was titled, “Challenging Times: Disruption is here, but so is opportunity – in this age of algorithms and changing perceptions of the justice system, society relies on the law to adapt, endure and lead”, where Her Honour shared with us on how the legal system must adapt and lead through technological disruption and evolving public perceptions of justice. The lecture offered insightful perspectives on this vital aspect of our justice system.

About the Presenter

Justice Brown was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2016 and was appointed to the Queensland Court of Appeal in June 2024.  Her Honour completed a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Queensland before attaining a Master of Law at the University of Cambridge.

Her Honour worked as a lawyer in Australia and London, she practiced as Senior Associate with MinterEllison before being called to the Bar in 1998.  Her Honour was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2011.  During her time at the Bar Justice Brown served for a number of years on the Bar Council, before becoming the first female to serve as the Vice President of the Bar Association of Queensland. She was awarded Woman Lawyer of the Year by the Women Lawyers Association Queensland in 2016.

Her Honour has served on a number of other professional committees throughout her career for a several years, including the Professional Conduct Committee, the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for the State of Queensland, the Law Council of Australia and Supreme Court Library Committee.  She was a director of the Advocacy Training Council prior to her appointment and continues to be involved in advocacy training.

Her Honour is passionate about education and maintaining the standards of the legal profession.  Her Honour has mentored many young women and men throughout her legal career.  Both when she was at the Bar and since she has been on the Bench her Honour has continued to be involved with the learning of future generations through the Bar Practice Course. She is presently the Chair of the Bar Practice Course. She also regularly judges University moot competitions and appears on panels and as a speaker at University law schools.